It's all personal opinion. The star is a one hit wonder that had great marketing. Probably the worst stock wake of any boat i've ever ridden behind. Loaded and i mean yiou have to load it 3 k over stock it starts to get ok. Have fun getting it on plane. Still no lip no real pop imo. I prefer a wake that is steaper and has pop to it. 205v, san210, x-25. When i'm at my buddies cabin that has the star i just skate behind it now. I like the straight up pop for my inverts.

Surfing is just a big mushy wave on the port side and is completely useless on the starboard.

Not a fan

Coming from a 2011 and a 2012 X25 (both with P&P), I have to say I was very impressed with my 09 X Star wake. With the Xstar empty (no ballast), at 20mph, the wake as way cleaner than the stock X25 wake - about the same size, but different shape.

All my previous wake boats have had a wake plate to trim/shape the wake. The Xstar is my first and only boat that does not have one becuase it doesnt need one. At full throttle at any weight, the boat NEVER porpises. There has never been a need to trim the boat, which still surprises me.

For wakeboarding, (with only a driver, nobody else in boat) I fill all below tanks 100%. At 21.6 mph (un-calibrated) the wake is super clean and comparible size to the X25 (full ballast) just not as steep.

Sometimes to increase the wakesize, I will add a 750lbs sac in the walkway (with full stock ballast). At 21.6mph the wake is similar tothe X25 with P&P full - again not as steep and lippy.

Going beyond that, filling the 750 scas in the rear compartments really crakes up the wake, however you now have to increase speed to clean the wake up. For me, runing approx 3250# of ballast is more than what I need.

NOW for surfing. Yesterday was the first time I had guests out with us to try surfing. I was a little nervous at first becuase I havent quite dialed in my surf wake. So here is goes...(for STRB side surfing)

KGB tank 100%
Port tank empty
STRB tank 100%
STRB 750# bag full

3 people sitting on STRB side

At 10.6mph, I was actually blown away by the surf wake. Apart from being 'a little' closer to the transom, the wake was better than my Moomba LSV with Fat Sacs and from what I remember better than the X25 (with surf tabs). The Star had a really good list to STRB. The wake had a lot of height, was fairly clean with a slight curl on top. I have to say, I was very surprised

At faster speeds (15mph) the massive rooster tail (typical of stars) folds over itself to create a very clean half pipe.

IMO, the Xstar has the ability to create a good fun surf wake, but it takes work and just the right speed - not nearly as easy as other boats - but again the Xstar was not intended as a surf boat - even though CWB board Co showed Zane Swanke surfing behind a star for their ads.

AGREED!! If I fill all tanks and bags full (3250#), I get on plane very quickly. My X25 with Ilmor 6.0 had way more dificulty getting on plane when fully loaded up with P&P, probably due to the deep V hull design. The X25 needed the trim plates to help with this.

BTW Please dont get me wrong. The X25 is a fabulous boat, its just totally different design from the star.

hahaha I guess i should have guessed i would have gotten some panties in a knot. MY OPINION was what i put in there. When i was buying my boat I didn't consider an X-star as i've spent a lot of time behind them and they're not my style of wake. My wife surfs and she doesn't like the softness of the xstar surf wake.

I'm not a pro. and by no means as good as a rider in Jersey Dave's video, he's got mad skill, I did notice he basically can do a invert off of a roller and can ollie higher then i can jump

The original thread is about the surf wake which i still stand by my comments that it throws a terrible surf wake compared to so many other boats out there. you can make a larger wake sure but it's no good unless it's firm and has push which it doesn't do.

Bjames, you ride at 20mph??? I'm old and not as light as i once was. Maybe my junior high weight of 120 pounds i could ride at that speed. My crew, we all ride 23-25 mph just to keep on plane hahahaha.

just to compare here's a pic of my x-25 wake with stock ballast in the bow filled and the back empty riding 24 mph (maybe 4-5 in the boat). not crazy steep but it has a nice lip with lots of pop... It gets way more fun with some extra weight in the bow and the back filled a little bit. By no means do you have to load the back up at all though. Just doing a simple wake to wake 180.

the other pic is my buddies star with the 750's filled and just the stock KGB. very rampy still with no real lip. Rider isn't as good so look more at the shapes.

If you like the rampy style wake of the star that's awesome. Great boat for that. I'm saying not everyone likes that and from my one ride behind the new xstar (2013) they've pretty much made a boat that produces a wake that is similar to the X-25 wake but bigger...

Actually the OP asked about wakeboard and surf wake. I think it's fine to state opinions about the stars wakeboard wake and prefer other wakes over it. But to state that the stars WB wake is anything but stellar puts you at odds with most of the pros out there. Now are there better wakes for intermediate riders? Very possibly.

There are better surf wakes for sure but it's not as bad as its rep if you weight it correctly. The trick is to load the nose. I run 200# of steel in the bow along with 3000# total ballast. Keeping the bow down lengthens the wake and improves the shape. Then you can get back from the swim deck.

hahaha I guess i should have guessed i would have gotten some panties in a knot. MY OPINION was what i put in there. When i was buying my boat I didn't consider an X-star as i've spent a lot of time behind them and they're not my style of wake. My wife surfs and she doesn't like the softness of the xstar surf wake.

I'm not a pro. and by no means as good as a rider in Jersey Dave's video, he's got mad skill, I did notice he basically can do a invert off of a roller and can ollie higher then i can jump

The original thread is about the surf wake which i still stand by my comments that it throws a terrible surf wake compared to so many other boats out there. you can make a larger wake sure but it's no good unless it's firm and has push which it doesn't do.

Bjames, you ride at 20mph??? I'm old and not as light as i once was. Maybe my junior high weight of 120 pounds i could ride at that speed. My crew, we all ride 23-25 mph just to keep on plane hahahaha.

just to compare here's a pic of my x-25 wake with stock ballast in the bow filled and the back empty riding 24 mph (maybe 4-5 in the boat). not crazy steep but it has a nice lip with lots of pop... It gets way more fun with some extra weight in the bow and the back filled a little bit. By no means do you have to load the back up at all though. Just doing a simple wake to wake 180.

the other pic is my buddies star with the 750's filled and just the stock KGB. very rampy still with no real lip. Rider isn't as good so look more at the shapes.

If you like the rampy style wake of the star that's awesome. Great boat for that. I'm saying not everyone likes that and from my one ride behind the new xstar (2013) they've pretty much made a boat that produces a wake that is similar to the X-25 wake but bigger...

hahaha I guess i should have guessed i would have gotten some panties in a knot. MY OPINION was what i put in there. When i was buying my boat I didn't consider an X-star as i've spent a lot of time behind them and they're not my style of wake. My wife surfs and she doesn't like the softness of the xstar surf wake.

I'm not a pro. and by no means as good as a rider in Jersey Dave's video, he's got mad skill, I did notice he basically can do a invert off of a roller and can ollie higher then i can jump

The original thread is about the surf wake which i still stand by my comments that it throws a terrible surf wake compared to so many other boats out there. you can make a larger wake sure but it's no good unless it's firm and has push which it doesn't do.

Bjames, you ride at 20mph??? I'm old and not as light as i once was. Maybe my junior high weight of 120 pounds i could ride at that speed. My crew, we all ride 23-25 mph just to keep on plane hahahaha.

just to compare here's a pic of my x-25 wake with stock ballast in the bow filled and the back empty riding 24 mph (maybe 4-5 in the boat). not crazy steep but it has a nice lip with lots of pop... It gets way more fun with some extra weight in the bow and the back filled a little bit. By no means do you have to load the back up at all though. Just doing a simple wake to wake 180.

the other pic is my buddies star with the 750's filled and just the stock KGB. very rampy still with no real lip. Rider isn't as good so look more at the shapes.

If you like the rampy style wake of the star that's awesome. Great boat for that. I'm saying not everyone likes that and from my one ride behind the new xstar (2013) they've pretty much made a boat that produces a wake that is similar to the X-25 wake but bigger...

Everyone has there take on the x-star but the setup on these stars is alot of nose weight for wakeboarding I run kgb full + pwt front bags, 400 lb lead and 300 lb bag under the bow cushion rear weight almost none usually 5-6 in the rear boat is plenty. run 21.7 mph and you will be amazed at what a x-star puts down for a wake. that pic above is sad to say the least. I think you need to learn how to pop off a wake and get where u can clear wave to wave at 75 ft back then you might have a better clue on a good wave. the x-25 throws a sick wave i am not sure what you are doing to ruin my guess is +25 mph and the wake plated down. the x-star has a decent surf wake it just takes a certain balance of weight of. I built a surf flap system and ditched it when i figured out a better weight dist in the boat now i can throw the same wave with very little lean. here is pic from last year its acutally better now smoother lip cleaner for 10-15 ft out in the wave. goofy/starboard side never can get it to clean up i get a huge wave but no good clean pocket. you can surf, and wakeboard behind any boat and make it decent its just finding what works and what doesn't its all setup. you can't go wrong with any boat in the mc line up